Wedding Soup

The famous American-Italian invention known as wedding soup gets its name from the Italian words minestra, meaning soup, and maritata which means married, referring to the delicious and harmonious union of flavors coming from meat and vegetables in a clear chicken broth.

The meats of choice are typically meatballs or sausages, while the greens can be any variation of escarole, chard, cabbage, spinach, broccoli, rabe, chicory, endive, lettuce, or kale. Other variations of the classic Italian wedding soup may also include small pasta—most often of the tiny acini di pepe (lit. peppercorns) variety — but also long noodles, or sometimes even beans.

In America, this soup is so popular that it has even been marketed in a canned variety under the name Chickarina.